Ansafone locating company headquarters in Ocala

Gwendolyn Weaver and her fellow customer service representatives help customers in the Ansafone call center in Ocala on Monday. The company, which provides customer service for both national and international companies as well as local business, will relocate its corporate headquarters here.

Published: Monday, July 29, 2013 at 6:16 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 29, 2013 at 6:16 p.m.

Ansafone Contact Centers LLC announced Monday it will be opening its corporate headquarters in downtown Ocala, although the company's current offices in Santa Ana, Calif., will not be closed.

A $100,000 grant from the governor's Quick Action Closing Fund apparently is driving the company's decision to make Ocala the company's headquarters as opposed to Santa Ana.

"We have been working with the state all year on this deal," Ansafone President & CEO Randy Harmat said. "We have been implementing it and hiring the corporate headquarters people for the last six-seven months."

The state has given the company until Dec. 31, 2014, to create the 37 jobs.

"We have already filled 30 of them," Harmat said.

Those jobs are paying, on average, $39,619 a year.

Leonard Scales, Ansafone's director of sales and marketing, said the company is planning to renovate a large garage that is attached to their current building, the former Maslow Insurance office, 101 NE Second St., Ocala.

"We didn't use it for any garage space," Scales said.

The state also is requiring Ansafone to make a $700,000 capital investment.

Harmat said the company will be spending $300,000-$400,000 to remodel the garage into office space.

So far, the company has made a capital investment of $1.3 million in Ocala. That exceeds the $700,000 capital investment the state now is requiring and the $300,000 capital investment the city of Ocala required for the $550,000 incentive it approved a year ago in the form of upgrades for parking.

Last year, Marion County also approved a $300,000 grant.

Harmat said there are almost 150 employees in Ocala and 450 employees total company-wide.

"We continue to be grateful for Florida for being a pro-business environment," Harmat said.

That has allowed his company to expand.

Scales said the company will not close the current Santa Ana offices because the company wishes to maintain local support for its western clients.

"We are not abandoning any clients," Scales said.

A year has passed since Marion County and the city of Ocala offered incentives for the company to open a call center bringing 300 new jobs to Ocala.

"Any time you can have headquarters in a community, that really adds value," said Ocala-Marion County Chamber Economic Partnership President & CEO Kevin Sheilley. "I think it's exciting to know that their experience has been so positive that they would want their corporate headquarters here."

Ansafone is described on its website as "a multi-channel national call center" that "provides everything from basic answering services for small businesses to large scale contact center solutions" for major corporations.

<p>Ansafone Contact Centers LLC announced Monday it will be opening its corporate headquarters in downtown Ocala, although the company's current offices in Santa Ana, Calif., will not be closed.</p><p>A $100,000 grant from the governor's Quick Action Closing Fund apparently is driving the company's decision to make Ocala the company's headquarters as opposed to Santa Ana.</p><p>"We have been working with the state all year on this deal," Ansafone President & CEO Randy Harmat said. "We have been implementing it and hiring the corporate headquarters people for the last six-seven months."</p><p>The state has given the company until Dec. 31, 2014, to create the 37 jobs.</p><p>"We have already filled 30 of them," Harmat said.</p><p>Those jobs are paying, on average, $39,619 a year.</p><p>Leonard Scales, Ansafone's director of sales and marketing, said the company is planning to renovate a large garage that is attached to their current building, the former Maslow Insurance office, 101 NE Second St., Ocala.</p><p>"We didn't use it for any garage space," Scales said.</p><p>The state also is requiring Ansafone to make a $700,000 capital investment.</p><p>Harmat said the company will be spending $300,000-$400,000 to remodel the garage into office space.</p><p>So far, the company has made a capital investment of $1.3 million in Ocala. That exceeds the $700,000 capital investment the state now is requiring and the $300,000 capital investment the city of Ocala required for the $550,000 incentive it approved a year ago in the form of upgrades for parking.</p><p>Last year, Marion County also approved a $300,000 grant.</p><p>Harmat said there are almost 150 employees in Ocala and 450 employees total company-wide.</p><p>"We continue to be grateful for Florida for being a pro-business environment," Harmat said.</p><p>That has allowed his company to expand.</p><p>Scales said the company will not close the current Santa Ana offices because the company wishes to maintain local support for its western clients.</p><p>"We are not abandoning any clients," Scales said.</p><p>A year has passed since Marion County and the city of Ocala offered incentives for the company to open a call center bringing 300 new jobs to Ocala.</p><p>"Any time you can have headquarters in a community, that really adds value," said Ocala-Marion County Chamber Economic Partnership President & CEO Kevin Sheilley. "I think it's exciting to know that their experience has been so positive that they would want their corporate headquarters here."</p><p>Ansafone is described on its website as "a multi-channel national call center" that "provides everything from basic answering services for small businesses to large scale contact center solutions" for major corporations.</p><p><i>Contact Susan Latham Carr at 867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.</i></p>